Job 23:2

The A. V. is almost certainly wrong in its rendering of this verse, though a more satisfactory rendering is hard to give. The text is probably faulty. Literally tendered according to the usual meaning of the words the verse reads, even to-day is my complaint rebellion, my hand is heavy upon my groaning. The A. V. has assumed, after the Vulgate, that the word usually meaning "rebellion" (mri) is a form of the word "bitter" (mar), or that the latter word should be read. It has also assumed that "my hand" may mean the hand(of God) upon me, i. e. "my stroke." But this is scarcely possible; "my arrow," ch. Job 34:6, being no true parallel. Further, it has assumed that the well-known phrase "to be heavy upon," e.g. Psalms 32:4, may mean "to be heavy above," i. e. heavier thanmy groaning. This also is scarcely to be believed. On the other hand it is difficult to extract sense from the literal rendering given above. The expression "my complaint is rebellion" may be used from the point of view of the three friends: even to-day(still) is my complaintaccounted rebellion, though my hand lies heavy upon my groaning, i. e. represses it; the meaning being, that Job was accounted rebellious by his friends, while in fact his complaint and groaning in no way came up to the terrible weight of his calamities the same idea as in ch. Job 6:2. Then the following verses proceed to describe the cause he has for complaint. Or the words "my complaint is rebellion" may express Job's own feeling: "I refuse to submit to my afflictions, or acknowledge that they are just." In this case the next words: "my hand lies heavy on my groaning" must mean "my hand presses out my groaning in a continual stream." But this is an extraordinary sense to put on the phrase "to lie heavy upon." Others, assuming that the text is corrupt, make alterations more or less serious in words, as "Hishand" for "myhand" in the second clause. So already the Sept.